Notes
I'm looking at starting a MTB club at my school. Learned there is an organization for HS-age races, National Interscholastic Cycling Association. I'm going to a sponsor's clinic first weekend in October, but that's neither here nor there with regards to today's activity.
Did a call-out/interest signup for the school all last week, and had six HS boys come to me interested. We set today as a time for me to take them out to a nearby cycling friend's trails - pretty good trails - to sort of expose them to what "mountain biking" really is (most of them have "mountain bikes" by a loose definition, but had only really ridden them on the street, or maybe on the grass).
So today comes, and four of them met me at the school. DW was with me, with her bike. They all had Walmart bikes, which I expected (one had purchased his today ), and boy...they all needed work. A couple, in particular, had oxidation caked on the chain. I got them all fixed up with helmets, and off we went to Tom's Trails. In our personal vehicles. On sort of a school trip. I was, in many ways, very exposed from a liability standpoint. I also learned on the way there, that not only was one kid half of my snare drum line, I also had the starting quarterback and a starting defensive end with me. So if we have a big crash...I tried not to dwell on it.
We got there, and I got my work stand out to make some adjustments to the bikes (the stand got the first "oooooh!" from the kids, heh). Between Tom and I, we got most of the bikes functional (I thought - more on that later), and off we went down the trails.
They L-O-V-E-D it. They acted exactly like they suspected they would: very hesitant at first, as we went down a few hills, over rocks and roots, and through the trees, but the more we rode, the more they loosened up and started chattering back and forth, razzing each other over how fast they weren't going, and getting excited on the flowy sections. After the first trip through the trails (on his "easy" loop, to sort of see how they did), the defensive end commented, "This is way harder than football!" But they were up for more, so Tom took them back out again, this time on some harder trails.
On that first ride, I traded bikes with the defensive end for a bit, so I could adjust his seat (and also to kind of illustrate to him the difference between a Walmart bike and a...well, honestly, a base-level Specialized bike. Still a big jump.). This was when I noticed HE HAD NO BRAKES, at least, none to speak of. Mashing them all the way to the grips merely slowed the bike slightly. I rode the bike most of the rest of the way, and when we got back from that first loop, Tom got his spare out for me to ride while one of the other kids rode mine ("wow, your bike is light and fast!" he commented. He's never seen a carbon-frame bike).
Me, I went in a different direction to try to locate DW, who wasn't quite ready when the rest of us took off, but told us to go on. She had become lost, so I went to try to find her, and predictably got lost, too. Eventually found each other, and I was VERY pleased to see she was in good spirits - some of our past MTB outings have ended with her very frustrated. I think being on her own, able to go her own pace and walk without feeling she was holding someone back helped. She was excited that she went over some rocks, down some hills, and over some bridges (three of her MTB nemeses) without stopping to walk. Good confidence-booster for her.
Anyway, we went by McDonald's afterward (still astounds me that place is their first choice for fast food), and they were just...abuzz with MTB talk. I think the interest is very much there for a competitive club, or at the very least a casual group. We'll see how it goes!